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Application of Cloud Computing in Agricultural Sectors for Economic Development

Bhagawan Nath, Somnath Chaudhuri
Introduction:
In recent years, new ICT technologies are being implemented in every sector of the developing nations.
The principal source of income of these countries is agriculture. So, the development of the ICT is
basically focussed on the agricultural sector. But the significant investment cost for ICT infrastructure and
maintenance is one of the primary drawbacks. As a result, the main concern for the information
technicians is to find a faster, reliable, efficient, user-friendly but at the same time cheaper ICT tool for
this field. Our paper is thus concerned with the concept of implementing such an ICT tool which will
maintain a huge but well customized, updated and secured data base with instantaneous connectivity but
with reasonable investment cost. That new application domain of ICT is Cloud Computing. It allows
users to make use of services such as real-time computation, data access, and storage to end-users without
the need to know the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services. Hence,
if we need to improve the economic condition of these developing nations then the only way to do that is
to improve the agricultural sectors of them. One possible way by which this can be achieved is the
successful implementation of the new ICT tool, Cloud Computing.
Objective:
The objective of this paper is thus concerned with the concept of cloud Computing, its effective
implementation and how effectively it can contribute as an ICT tool to play a vital role in developing the
agricultural sectors in the developing countries.
What is Cloud Computing:
Cloud computing is a tool to make IT related services available in a simplified manner hiding the
complexities of those services, without really knowing and getting involved in the technicalities of how
and what to do in providing the needed services. The term cloud computing is given to this approach
because the users do not really need to know who is providing those services and users consider that the
services are rendered by the cloud an unknown to them. The charm of cloud computing is that the
services may be availed whenever and wherever needed. It also reduces the cost of availing those services
drastically. At the same time, it offers involvement of very less manpower and maintenance of those
services. It also makes users free from certain concerns such as buying software, maintaining them up to
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date, maintenance of data etc. All these issues would be taken care of by Cloud providers. Cloud
computing offers various models based on user requirement.
Three of the most basic cloud computing models are:
Software as a Service (SAAS): It includes the ICT working environment tools such as software,
web applications etc., without buying/downloading and installing in specific machines. Another
characteristic of this model is that the users are charged for whatever has to be used for a specific
duration, against the traditional way of buying and paying for the full application.
Platform as a Service (PAAS): It provides clients the computing platform for designing and
developing specific applications with minimum redundancy. It also takes care of hosting of those
applications without concerning about hardware and data storage requirement. It also guarantees
the availability of most recent platforms and their security.
Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS): This model usually includes tangible as well as intangible
components used in availing ICT services, such as virtual computers, traffic monitoring and re-
directing, basic network components etc. This is the most prominent benefit of cloud computing
as the organizations invest the most in establishing infrastructure.










Figure-1: Basic Cloud computing structure
Although cloud computing looks so promising, it has few concerns mostly to do with the compatibility of
cyber related laws between different countries. It is specifically applicable if the service provider and the
client are from different countries. A study was conducted among 24 ICT leading countries covering 80%
Cloud end-users: Farmers, Policy makers,
Experts, Researchers etc.
SaaS: Browsers, SMSs, Audio-video, e-
training etc.

PaaS: e-data bank and Cloud Agro System
IaaS: Computers, laptops, mobile phones etc.
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of the worlds Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by Business Software Alliance (BSA
2012)
[2]
, and has come up with 7-point policy blueprints to tackle this issue. Another big challenge is the
security of data and the services. This can be taken care of by carefully selecting the service provider and
opting for the most reputed ones in this field.
Global Scenario of cloud computing
Cloud computing services were first offered by Amazon Web services in 2006. Initially most of the
potential clients were not convinced to accept this shift. But gradually it has started picking up the market
looking at its primary features viz. storage space, efficiency, easy accessibility, strong security, longevity,
cheaper investment and maintenance, interoperability, ease of shifting base, quality support etc.
The current global market scenario is that cloud computing is considered to be one of the most
revolutionary tools that has already started showing its impact in the international market. It is treated as a
paradigm shift of ICT services from the traditional way of owning the whole organization based ICT set-
up to hiring the set-up and delegating the most difficult parts of it to the service providers.
Key Facts
Some of the key facts that are the most prominent ones in uplifting cloud computing globally, according
to a study done by one of the cloud service providers, cloudhypermartket.com, are given below:
Almost 70% of the users believe that it has simplified the IT management process.
72% users have experienced improved end-user assistance.
63% users consider that it has brought down the IT performance challenges.
73% users believe that it has reduced the cost of infrastructure.
According to 74% of the users, it has alleviated internal resource pressures.
Key Features
Among all the cloud computing features, following three features were found to be the core of uplifting
cloud computing to the current level, according to a survey
[1]
done among 250 organizations.


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Efficiency 77% Reduction in Capital Cost-68% Ease of Staffing issue-61%
Figure -2: Key features of cloud computing
[1]

The diagram below depicts the current trend of value of cloud computing services worldwide. It clearly
indicates the shift of traditional ICT trends towards cloud computing.

Figure-3: Value of cloud computing services
[1]

Implementation in agricultural sector:
Although cloud computing is picking up the global market covering almost all the prime sectors, there is
nothing much done in agricultural sector. Few countries like China, Japan, some parts of Africa, USA etc.
have started implementing cloud computing in agro sector in recent past, but it is still in dormant state. It
is considered to be a new shift in developing countries.
A recent study conducted by Business Software Alliance (BSA)
[2]
shows the readiness of few Asian
countries in adopting cloud computing in Agro sector. Japan as the leading country, the study placed
Korea at eighth, Singapore at tenth, Malaysia at the thirteenth and India holding the Nineteenth position.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
In Billion
dollars
Year
Value of Cloud Computing Services
Data not available
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An encouraging factor and a key finding in this study is that the economy does not play a vital role in
terms of readiness of implementation of cloud computing in any sector.
Bhutan is comparatively new nation to ICT. A fully digital national telecommunication network
interconnecting all the twenty Dzongkhags (districts) of Bhutan was established in 1998. Mobile services
were introduced in 2003. But Bhutan did not take time in realizing the importance of ICT and started
using ICT in different key sectors, viz. all the ministries and prime organizations (government, corporate
and private). Though the Agricultural sector contributes around 20% of the countrys GDP and around
65% of the total population is employed by this sector, Bhutan has not done much in applying ICT in this
field. One reason for not being able to do much in implementing ICT in Agricultural sector could be the
geographical topography of the nation. Looking at its geography, Bhutan needs a huge investment in
establishing a sophisticated ICT infrastructure. Another prime concern is the connectivity from one end of
the nation to another with a centralized control, which demands a competitive pool of maintenance crew.
Also it makes the centralized setup very complicated and difficult to manage, and Bhutan lacks competent
man power.
Now, looking at the advanced developments in ICT, the above cited problems are no more a concern.
Especially with the introduction of cloud computing as a tool has the capability to overcome these
problems. This paper, therefore, attempts to suggest the implementation of cloud computing as a prime
ICT tool in the Agricultural sector. The advantage of cloud computing is that it can be implemented in
any sector. The optimal benefit and effect of cloud computing may be achieved if all the stakeholders can
implement it and can be brought under a centralized control. The impact of doing it would cut the cost,
time and make the communication system much faster and easier.
Enhancement of Agricultural Sector of Bhutan
This paper introduces the concept of implementation of cloud computing in the Agricultural sector. It
intends to introduce cloud computing model with two core parts in it. The first part is to monitor and fulfil
user requirements with a user-friendly and faster approach, and the other one to store all relevant data in a
centralized location cloud.
1. Cloud Agro System: This part of the system can be used to monitor the overall functionalities
of the system and render the needed services. The system will have online service facilities
available to all the users, from any part of the country and at any time. In order to render these
services, the Agro system may have the following services:
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Demand-supply: It can provide an up to date picture of the current demand and supply
information of agro products in different parts of the country. It helps the farmers in
deciding on selection of the crops. It also provides room to go for a comparative analysis
of the demand and supply chain.
Communication: Literacy rate of Bhutan is little more than 48% (with urban Bhutan at
71% and rural at 40%), according to a survey done by the Centre of Bhutan Studies
(CBS) in 2010. It indicates that majority of urban population are illiterate, who are in
general farmers. Therefore, the system will provide services in their national language,
which is dzongkha. The system will also have audio-visual facilities to disseminate
information.
Communication Devices: The mobile services in Bhutan have covered almost all parts
of the country and almost each family has access to it. Though majority of the local
farmers have never heard of ICT, they are used to with mobile services. Thus, the
system incorporates mobile services and helps the farmers in acquiring information from
e-data bank from anywhere, at any time, through mobile phones.
e-Knowledge sharing: The system also keeps provision to have online communication
with the experts/consultants and attend online training programs using the Community
Service Centres (CSC) as the local information bases. The system is not restricted to
only local information; cloud agro is a global ICT approach. The system, therefore, will
collect and disseminate agriculture related global information to the local farmers. This
will be specifically useful if they need information that is not locally available or not yet
implemented in Bhutan. Also farmers can be made aware of recent agro related
concepts, such as Organic cultivation using this global ICT approach.
Conducting Research: It will help the national and international researchers to extract
agricultural data directly from the e-data bank and analyse them in order to contribute to
the agricultural sector of the nation. The research findings will be kept in the e-data bank
and will be available to all its stake holders.

2. e-Data Bank: It is a central data bank and it can be used to store all the agriculture related
information in a centralized cloud, which will be available to all the users at anytime, anywhere.
The main concept behind having an e-data bank is to disseminate vital information to the local
farmers in decision making. In order to do so, the e-data bank includes the following databases:
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Crop related information: It captures information related to all the crops grown in
recent past in different regions. This will help the local farmers of different parts of the
nation in crop related decision making.
Weather information: It stores the region specific weather information and also the
weather forecast for a specific duration. It will benefit the farmers in decision making
related to selection of crops.
Soil Information: Soil information also plays a vital role in crop related decision
making. So, this section provides information on nature of soil of different parts of the
country. It can also provide the trend of soil in past and will help in forecasting the
future trend of soil.
Growth progress monitoring: It monitors and captures data on crop growth in different
regions on a regular interval. This will be specifically useful in comparing the crop
growth region wise and also comparing it with past data will bring a clearer picture.
Farmers Data: It captures the region wise farmer related data, to monitor and study the
involvement of local farmers in agricultural sector. It will help the policy makers in
designing agricultural policies. This will also help in identifying the core agricultural
areas, so that the policy makers can take decision on encouraging and promoting
agriculture. This may help in overcoming problems such as unemployment and rural-
urban migration.
Expert Consultation: It provides solutions to common problems that farmers frequently
experience. It can also have a provision to post unattended problems seeking for
solutions from the experts. It will also have a bundle of frequently asked questions
(FAQs) and their answers to make the response reach the farmers faster.
The suggested Cloud Agro System
Based on the above stated system, the paper suggests the following model to implement cloud computing
as an ICT tool in Agricultural sector of Bhutan:
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Cloud Agro System (CAS)
Bhutan Cloud Agro System (CAS) Model























e-Data Bank

Weather
Information
Database
Soil Information
Database
Growth Progress
Monitoring Database
Farmers Database
Expert
Consultation
Crop related
Database
Generic User Interface
Devices (Computers, Laptops, Mobiles etc)
End-Users (Farmers, Policy makers, Experts, Researchers etc.)
Communication e-Knowledge
Sharing
Conducting Research Demand Supply
Data Traffic
Management
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Benefits of the proposed model
The suggested model, if implemented properly, will benefit all the concerned sectors to a great extent.
Following are the main advantages of using the suggested model:
Data management: The data will be managed by the service provider, a team of professionals.
That guarantees a better and organized management of data.
Data readiness: The model provides data from the e-data bank databases to its entire stakeholder
at any time and at any location.
Local and global Communication: The model makes the communication between different users
much faster, easier and cheaper. Also the communication will be secured.
Rural-urban migration: A major problem of Bhutan is rural-urban migration. It can be reduced
as the model provides its services all over the country at any time no matter how remote the
place is. This will also help in controlling unemployment problem in the country.
Motivation: It will motivate the farmers and researchers to get involved more and more into
agriculture as any communication will be result oriented. That will result in overall development
of this sector in the nation.
Security: It provides an enhanced security as the resources will be stored in cloud and will be
maintained centrally by the service providers. Thus, it is not a cause of concern for its users.
Reduction of technical issues: It cuts short the man power, maintenance and infrastructure
requirement drastically, as it will be provided by the service providers.
Overall economy: Implementation of the suggested model will help in uplifting the agricultural
sector of the country. That will boost the overall development of the economy. It is due to the
mass involvement of different stakeholders, as the system will monitor and deliver progress
report whenever and wherever needed.
Few concerns
Although the implementation of the proposed system indicates overall growth of the agricultural sector in
Bhutan, there are few concerns as well.
One of the main concerns of cloud computing is the conflict in different country laws. This will be
applicable to Bhutan, as there is no cloud service provider in the country. Therefore, Bhutan has to look
for service providers outside the country. It demands a careful selection of the provider and may also
require negotiation in drawing an effective agreement between the service providers nation and Bhutan.
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Another concern is the security and privacy. The nation may not be willing to hand over sensitive data to
a third party. This can be taken care of by careful selection of reliable and reputed cloud service
providers.
One more important constraint is, cloud computing demands high bandwidth internet connectivity. The
current international bandwidth of Bhutan is 622 Mbps, which is just sufficient to cater the basic needs.
But to optimally use the cloud services Bhutan needs much higher bandwidth than the current capacity.
One possible solution to this problem could be to incorporate certain services through mobile, especially
text related services.
Conclusion
Bhutan will benefit significantly if the model is implemented properly. The model bridges information
gap within and outside the nation. In agricultural sector, the suggested model can be considered as a pilot
project. An effective implementation of this model will encourage other sectors also, which will lead to
optimal benefit of shifting towards cloud. This will definitely have a positive impact in the overall
economic development of the nation. Above all, cloud computing is a newly introduced concept and most
of the developing nations are not readily willing to accept and implement it. Therefore, it needs a mass
awareness and promotion among the prime stakeholders to acquire the full potential of it and have a well
established information base for the nation. This will in return lead to a well-connected world.










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References:
1. http://www.cloudtweaks.com/2011/12/infographic-value-of-cloud-computing-services-
through-the-years/
2. http://www.portal.bsa.org/cloudscorecard2012/